The next note reverses the scenario. If Billy takes the note to the police, a mother of two young children will die. If he doesn't, an unmarried man who won't be much missed will die.

Billy must think the unthinkable, fast, in an accelerating nightmare. More communications from the killer follow, with ever tighter deadlines. Each is more personal, more confrontational than the last until he is isolated, with no one to rely on but himself. Finally he must risk everything to save the intended victims.